By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Long before M. Night Shyamalan turned plants into killers The eventand a few years before George Romero turned the horror upside down with Night of the Living Deada British horror and sci-fi classic introduced the world to the Triffids. Adaptation of the hitbook of the same name, The day of the Triffidsperhaps about aliens rather than zombies, but it had a lasting impression on zombie horror for 60 years. Especially, 28 days later And The Walking Dead were heavily influenced by the 1963 film.
Humans are the real monster
The day of the Triffids begins with a strange meteor shower that blinds everyone who sees it, sparing Bill, a naval officer who was recovering in a hospital when it happened. The sequence of Bill walking out of the hospital into the deserted city streets is one of those scenes that you probably never realized was an homage. Danny Boyle made sure to shoot Cillian Murphy exactly the same way during manufacturing 28 days laterbut that’s not the only scene the two films have in common.
“Humans are the real monster” has become the expected message in most horror films, and 28 days later makes this understood with the third act, the arrival of the soldiers installed in an abandoned house. It’s similar to the same sequence in the 1951 novel, Day of the Triffids, right down to using the zombies/triffids as weapons. The movie made significant changes from the novel up to changing the ending to something more hopeful, but in between you can see the DNA of 28 days later.
While the film version of The day of the Triffids has little in common with the novel, nor does it specify exactly where the Triffids come from. There is an implication in the novel that they are the result of Soviet experimentation, but the film then includes spores spread by the mysterious meteor shower, making it seem like an invader. stranger species. Both versions include a young girl, Susan, who Bill befriends and defends as they wander the countryside in search of safe haven.
60 years later
The day of the Triffids isn’t a traditional zombie film, but it nonetheless helped establish the template that the genre would follow. The 1963 film currently enjoys a 78 percent fresh reviews rating on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to a lackluster 51 percent audience rating, but that’s with more than 5,000 audience reviews for a film from 61 years old, and that’s still a better mark than most. science fiction films released in 2024. Later adaptations are said to be more faithful to the original novel, including the 2009 miniseries starring Jason Priestly, Brian CoxVanessa Redgrave and Eddie Izzard, but neither had the lasting but underrated impact of the original.
That of Georges Romero Night of the Living Deadthe most influential zombie film of all time, debuted five years later The day of the Triffidsbut together, the two films helped launch a horror subgenre that is still popular today. Over the past 20 years, zombie films that deconstruct the genre and subvert tropes have grown in popularity, from Shaun of the Dead has The dead don’t diewith mixed results. But through it all, the 1963 British sci-fi horror film has quietly influenced countless films and novels.
Before seeing again 28 days later prepare for 28 years laterdo yourself a favor and stream The day of the Triffids for free on Tubi, PhiloOr Crackleand see if you can spot the homages and references.
